Utilize Nancy Fetzer’s K-1
Writing Curriculum Manual and
free videos to teach the
Common Core State Writing
Standards for Kindergarten
and First Grade students. This
manual and online videos are
packed with research-based,
highly engaging lessons, tools,
and techniques to ensure ALL
student master the standards.

Table of Contents: K-1 Writing Curriculum Videos

Overview

This online training is for Teachers, Support Staff, and Parents. Utilize Nancy Fetzer’s K-1 Writing Curriculum Online Training Manual and Videos to teach the Common Core State Writing Standards for Kindergarten and First Grade students. The manual and videos are packed with research-based, highly engaging lessons, tools, and techniques to ensure ALL students, whether Second Language Learners, Special Education, and General Education master the standards.

Common Core Standards p. 5

This chapter begins with an overview of the K-1 Common Core Writing Standards. There are three major domains of writing in the Common Core State Standards. These include: 1. Narrative (personal and imaginative); 2. Informative/Explanatory (to inform, analyze, describe, or explain); and 3. Opinion/Argument/Persuasive. In addition to the standards is an overview of the Nancy Fetzer stages of writing. These are direct instruction writing lessons packed with best teaching strategies designed to teach each genre. Specific skills are taught at each grade level and provide schoolwide continuity for each genre. A handy table is provided identifying each type of writing and the stages assigned to each grade level to ensure the standards are taught and to provide a schoolwide cohesive and coherent program.

Four Daily Components of Writing p. 9

This chapter provides an overview of the four daily components of writing. These include language development, teacher write, interactive writing, and instructional leveled-writing (small group and whole group). These four components will increase students’ academic language, as well as slowly release each student from high-levels of teacher support to independent writing.

Language Development p. 13

If you can’t say it, then you can’t write it! This chapter is packed with language development activities that will enhance your core subjects (language arts, science, and social studies). Word Masters to Movie Scripts will develop vocabulary and narrative writing. Come Alive Boxes is perfect to analyze a character in a story while also teaching word choice and descriptive writing for narratives. Lecture Notes frontloads the big ideas and difficult concepts for social studies and science, then transforms them into informative/explanatory writing. Content Diagrams not only teach the meaning of content words, but also become descriptive expository writing.

Teacher Write p. 47

A daily observation (5-10 minutes) of the teacher modeling how to write a story, information, or opinions. Modeling writing is critical for students to observe the thinking of a good, fluent writing. Typically, the teacher spends a week planning, rehearsing and revising, then finally writing. You will love the books produced from these activities.

Interactive Writing p. 53

A daily activity (15-minutes) in which the students and teacher together plan stories, information, or opinions, then orally rehearse them, write their sentences on whiteboards, and finally write them into big books.

Interactive Writing Tools p. 59

Small Group Writing: Instructional Level p. 71

This section is for kindergarten and first grade (first three months of school). There are three different types of small groups in which students are placed according to their ability. These small groups can have high numbers of students as long as they are ability grouped. The first is the Pre-Emergent Level (or word level) in which students learn how to write high-frequency words, and also how to segment and write simple words. The next group is the Emergent Level (or sentence level). These students learn how to write a complete sentence. Finally, the last group is the Beginner Level (or independent writing). These students write their own stories or information.

Small Group Writing Tools p. 85

Whole Group Writing: Instructional Level p. 129

This chapter is an overview for the whole group lessons. These whole class lessons replace the small group lessons only when most students can independently write on their own. Daily (30-45 minutes), systematic meta-cognitive steps are used to teach students how to write narratives, information, or opinions. These lessons may take one – five days to complete. At first, the students and teacher, together, follow the steps to plan, talk, then write. As students master the steps, they then are released to partner writing, and finally independent writing.

Narrative Writing Lessons p. 137

This chapter provides narrative writing lessons for stages 1-4. Each stage begins with a chant to introduce to students what they will be learning, followed by direct instruction steps to learn in order to plan and write their stories. Stage One is one sentence, a story opening. Stage Two is a paragraph story. While Stages Three and Four advance to stories that include more complex sentences and dialogue.

Narrative Writing Tools p. 155

Expository/Informative/Explanatory Writing Lessons p. 165

This chapter provides informational writing lessons for stages 1-4. Each stage begins with a chant to introduce to students what they will be learning, followed by direct instruction steps to learn in order to plan and write information. Stage One is for a topic sentence. Stage Two is a beginning paragraph. While Stages Three and Four advance to paragraphs that include more complex sentences and conclusions.

Expository/Informative/Explanatory Writing Tools p. 183

Opinion Writing Lessons p. 191

The first video in this section is an introduction to the four stages of opinion writing about a topic and text, as well as an analysis of their similarities and differences. The remaining eight videos (four for a topic and four for a text) are detailed explanations of how to teach the different stages of opinion writing for topics and texts. Please note: A free download for opinion writing about topics is also included in this section.

Editing and Revising p. 205

Three unique editing and revising lessons specifically teach students how to fix capitalization, punctuation errors (using Green Light-Red Light!) and redundant words (using the Redundant Police). Additionally, they also learn how to add more descriptive language (using Dot the Nouns).

Sentences p. 211

This chapter introduces the Who/What Chart. This is a tool for creating powerful sentences for either narrative or informational writing. Students learn to transform their ideas into sentence structures that provide more precise and active writing. Emergent writers use this chart to form more sophisticated sentences. In addition, early writers use the chart to add adjectives and modifiers. More fluent writers develop topic sentences that capture the big ideas in their writing. At the end of this chapter are blackline masters students fill-in, then write either story openings or topic sentences.

Mentor Text to Writing Anchor Charts p. 223

This chapter displays many different anchor charts the students and teacher can develop throughout the school year. The charts include descriptive language, ideas, phrases, and so many more resources students can assess to enhance their writing.

Nancy Fetzer’s K-6 Common Core Writing Program Overview Guide

This free downloadable manual provides administrators and teachers with a schoolwide tool for articulation, assessment benchmarks, and planning utilizing Nancy Fetzer’s Writing Curriculum. Separate chapters in this manual cover the different writing genres: narrative, informative/explanatory, and opinion/argumentative. Each of these chapters begin with at-a-glance pages that display the organizers, brief descriptions, and suggested stages of writing matched to grade-levels. Also included in each of the genre chapters are detailed descriptions of the different writing stages. Each of these stages come with descriptors of the characteristics of good writing: Content and Organization, Sentences, and Mechanics. Along with these descriptors are exemplar organizers and writing samples. Utilize these pages to assess student writing, and determine teaching points for writing lessons.